Khaos Faktory
Khaos Faktory is 'an industrial-metal band from North Fort Myers, Florida. Originally created as an industrial-rock solo project by guitarist/programmer Mike in 2006, Khaos Faktory has since evolved into a band and has released four EPs ''Open For Business, Khaos Faktory Sampler ''(and its variant versions), ''Stoned, Drunk & Sleep-Deprived ''and ''No Mas Beastmode ''as well as a full-length album, ''Sinthetic Alchemy. Khaos Faktory has been featured on the Sweat Soundtrack and the Skratch Compilation v.44. The band's current lineup includes Shawn Klick and Mike. History '''Formation Khaos Faktory was spawned in the summer of 2006 while Mike was working on 80-Proof Throwdown's debut album Trailer Park Rhapsody. Recording of that album had been on hiatus for a while, so Mike began recording new industrial-rock songs to alleviate boredom. The result of this was Khaos Faktory's first disc, the Open For Business EP, with Mike playing all the instruments and performing all the vocals and programming. 50 copies of the disc were pressed and given away for free, mostly at a small North Fort Myers record store named A.B.CD's. Response to the disc was mild and mixed; some liked it, others hated it. Open For Business has not been in print since then, and will never be re-released. After self-releasing Trailer Park Rhapsody, 80-Proof Throwdown was shelved due to lead guitarist/vocalist "Beerkeg" Brandon Casterline's departure from the band to pursue his career in the United States Marine Corps, and Mike was unable to find a replacement for him. Late in 2007, Mike was joined by vocalist Dave Spencer, who had previously played in a short-lived metal outfit called 13 BC with Mike on rhythm guitars. For a brief time, lead guitarist Alex Rosado (also ex-13 BC) came onboard; however, he was excused from the band due to personal problems with Spencer. Next to join was Matt Pyro (ex-NotEmo) on bass, Das on guitars and synthesizers, Brian Friesen on lead guitars, and Joel Metz on drums. 'Sinthetic Alchemy' cover]] With the lineup complete, the band began recording its debut LP Sinthetic Alchemy in January 2008 without Metz performing a real drum set; Mike and Das opted to use a drum machine instead due to Joel's drunken antics and short attention span. Pyro and Friesen only performed on one song each: "Stoked" and "Scratch", respectively. In March 2008, as the album started coming together, Khaos Faktory was signed to California-based indie label A Dark Philosophy Records (more commonly referred to as ADP Records), with "Knife" Sotelo as Executive Producer. The disc was originally intended to be a six- or seven-song EP, however more songs were added due to pressure from ADP Records to put out a full-length release; this resulted in "Scratch" and "All Good Things Must End" being included on the final version. Two filler tracks created by Knife were added to bring the total number of tracks up to ten. The album took only three months to write and record with the exception of "Stoked", which had been recorded in November 2007, and "Cattle", which had originally been written in 2005 by Mike and Brandon Casterline while they were in 80-Proof Throwdown (although the new recording was made during the Sinthetic Alchemy sessions). The album was released on April 20, 2008. Only 1,000 copies of the official release disc have been printed. There was also a limited-edition release marketed through ADP subsidiary Neighborhood Records, of which 100 copies were produced, for a total amount of 1,100 copies of the album in existence. Shortly before Sinthetic Alchemy was released, Metz was excused from Khaos Faktory due to multiple factors. Literally just a few days before the album debuted, Matt Pyro quit the band on his father's demand, and publicly stated that he wanted nothing further to do with the band, the album, or the record label that released the album. Das switched instruments and replaced Pyro on bass. About a month after the debut was released, Brian Friesen left the band on amicable terms to go to college. Khaos Faktory continued on with Spencer on vocals, Mike on guitars and programming, and Das on bass and synthesizers. 'Sweat Soundtrack' Around this same time, Khaos Faktory was approached by underground filmmaker Ryan McClellan and asked to submit a song for his upcoming motion picture, entitled Sweat. Mike ended up collaborating with McClellan on the creation and promotion of the picture's soundtrack CD and submitted four songs in all, which included "Stoked" and "Cattle" from Sinthetic Alchemy, as well as two previously unreleased remixes, "Turboslut (Sausage Wallet Remix)" and "Cattle (Reverse Polarity Mix)". The Sweat soundtrack CD was releasd on August 1, 2008 via McClellan's production company JaDEd EyeZ Entertainment, and was sold exclusively on the movie's official website (now defunct, as the film was cancelled), although the bands featured on the album were given CD's in limited quantities to sell by themselves. '2009 - 2010' In August 2008 David "Stoney" Mustonen signed on as lead guitarist, and in September 2008 Greg Tali (formerly of Fort Myers black-metal band Neither) joined as the new drummer. Dave Spencer moved to Indiana around the same time, and Stoney took over the vocal duties for three of the band's live performances. Shawn Klick (ex-A Season Of Violence) took over four-string duties in early 2009. Das left the band in early 2009 and formed a new ambient/comedy-industrial project called Da Manginas From China with a Laser Beam. As of January 2009 Khaos Faktory has been released from their contracts from ADP Records. Ryan McClennan helped manage Khaos Faktory during 2008-2009 and created Khaos Records. Sinthetic Alchemy was re-released as Sinthetic Alchemy 2.0 ''and was the label's second LP release since its formation. ''2.0 was released on February 9, 2009 to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Mike's best friend Richard. The disc featured a guest appearance by Neither's keyboardist Kat Rodriguez on the song "Struggle". Stoney provided the lead guitars on the new version of "Liberated" as well as the new cover of Sepultura's "Refuse Resist". In June 2009 Stoney was fired from the band over his drug addictions and personal problems with certain other band members. On January 1, 2010 Khaos Faktory changed its name to ScarForge, however the name was changed back soon after. In 2010 ScarForge released a free 3-song CD generically titled ScarForge Promo CD 1.5, which features the new single "Obsidian", along with "Cattle" and "Konflikted" from Sinthetic Alchemy 2.0 and "KOCK Radio Episode 2" as a hidden bonus track. The latter was originally intended to appear on Sinthetic Alchemy 2.0 but never made it to press. A digital (and slightly different) version of the disc was released as a downloadable .zip file. In April 2010 Shawn Sissons (ex-Neither) was named the new singer of ScarForge. During the summer of 2010 Tali quietly left ScarForge to pursue other interests. The only song created in collaboration with Sissons was a demo titled "Neu Laden", which showcases some of Sisson's programming skills. '2011 - 2014' ScarForge slowly dissolved during 2010 and was considered by the band members to have broken up, as only a handful of demos were recorded throughout the year and jam sessions had all but ceased by the summer. The remaining band members (Sissons, Mike and Klick) disbanded into other projects. In the fall of 2013, a new version of Sinthetic Alchemy (internally referred to as Sinthetic Alchemy 1.5) was independently released by former band members and given away locally for free. The independent release contained what the band members consider to be the best versions of each song from the original ADP Records release and the Khaos Records re-issue, along with a newly-recorded cover of the Brainchild/Circle Of Dust song "Descend". Through 2012 and 2013 there were several failed attempts to revive the band, however this did not come to fruition until March 2014. Dave Spencer was initially involved, but parted ways with the Faktory to work with other bands and was replaced by former The Blackest Blood vocalist Aaron Vollmer. Shawn Klick rejoined as Khaos Faktory's bassist, and later switched to lead guitars. The band released a new single titled "Raising Hell" in the spring of 2014 via YouTube and ReverbNation. The single features lead guitars by Brandon Casterline, and vocals were shared by Spencer and Vollmer. In August 2014 the band released the first completed micro-episode of Khaos Faktory: The Animated Series via YouTube and Faceboook. The animated short is titled "One Weird Night". KFTAS is hand-drawn and animated by Mike in the style of his comic books A Fist Fight With Frankenstein and The Coop... And Beyond. In Fall 2014 Chris Lloyd (Spirit Fire, ex-The Blackest Blood) joined as the new drummer, however Chris' tenure was short-lived. Through December 2014 and January 2015 the band worked on new recordings for an EP as a stopgap until a new album could be finished. Instead, KF self-released Stoned, Drunk & Sleep-Deprived and broke up immediately afterward. Klick and Vollmer started a new band called Warrant 4 A Halo, and Mike began on a new project called Die Dreck. 2015 - Present Shawn Klick became involved with Die Dreck within a couple of months of its formation. The duo recorded several songs and released a promo EP titled No Mas Beastmode in December 2015. With Khaos Faktory's 10th anniversary approaching, Mike and Klick decided to reform the band to do a collection album with some new recordings, which led to work on a brand-new sophomore album as well. Former guitarist/bassist Das expressed interest in rejoining, however conflicting work schedules made working on music with Das impossible. In Summer 2016 the band members decided to end Die Dreck as an active project, and folded its songs into the Khaos Faktory catalog. No Mas Beastmode saw a second pressing in September as an official Khaos Faktory release and included a bonus track. Currently Khaos Faktory is working on both a collection album and a proper sophomore album. The collection will be titled Age Of Khaos: 2006-2016 and will include material from every KF EP, the first album, unreleased demos, and new tracks. Age Of Khaos is planned for release in 2017. On January 8, 2017 the band released their first music video, "Time Is The Fire", on Facebook. The video was then released on Youtube shortly after. Their second music video, "Beastmode" was released a few weeks later. Influences From its inception, Khaos Faktory has been an electronic rock and metal band. There has been much influence from many genres of extreme music due to the large number of band members over the years. Its primary influences are industrial, thrash metal, death metal and punk rock. Band members Current members * Shawn Klick: bass (2009-2010, 2014-2015), vocals, lead guitars (2016-present) * Mike: guitars, vocals, bass, synthesizers (2006-present) Former members * Dave W. Spencer: vocals (2007-2010, 2014) * David "Das" Spencer: guitars, bass (2007-2009) * Greg Tali: drums, vocals (2008-2010) * Shawn Sissons: vocals, synthesizers (2010) * Alex Rosado: lead guitars (2007) * Brian Freisen: lead guitars (2008) * Matt "Pyro" Cop: bass (2007-2008) * Joel Metz: drums (2007-2008) * TJ Sanborn: lead guitars (2009) * David "Stoney" Mustonen: lead guitars, vocals (2008-2009) * Aaron Vollmer: vocals (2014-2015) * Chris Lloyd: drums (2014) Discography Albums/EPs (as Khaos Faktory) * Open For Business (EP, 2006, independently released) * Sinthetic Alchemy (LP, 2008, ADP Records / 2009, Khaos Records/Jaded Eyez Entertainment) * Khaos Faktory Sampler CD 1.0 (promo EP, 2009, Khaos Records) * Stoned, Drunk & Sleep-Deprived (EP, 2015, independently released) * No Mas Beastmode (EP, 2016, independently released) * Age Of Khaos 2006-2016 (Collection, TBA 2017, Khaos Faktory Media) (as ScarForge) * Promo CD 1.5 (promo EP, 2010, independently released) * Sampler EP 1.5.5 (digital promo EP, 2010, independently released) (as Die Dreck) * No Mas Beastmode (EP, 2015, independently released) Compilations * Sweat Soundtrack (2008, JaDEd EyeZ Entertainment) * Skratch Compilation v.44 (2008, Skratch Magazine) External Links * Khaos Faktory on ReverbNation * Khaos Faktory Facebook * Khaos Faktory on SoundCloud Category:Bands Category:Musical groups established in 2006 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Category:Industrial metal groups Category:American industrial metal musical groups